this seemingly goes against some of what the original kettle was designed to do, protect your food from the elements while cooking.
i'm not bashing this in any way, i'm just pointing out what should be obvious to us. this is the weber that breaks some of weber's own rules and for that, it's really cool!
one motivation it doesn't break, is that it was meant to create a meal and bring the family together.
i think it's extremely cool, i bet the sides are meant to take some serious heat as they are also the cover.
congrats and great job on the clean up!